Do kids use problem solving skills when they create scrap art? You bet they do! After examining the art of Mary Katherine Lamb, they create their own pieces using recycled products and vintage art techniques. They watch a video about the...

A carefully crafted three-day lesson integrates poetry and visual art. By analyzing and comparing Langston Hughes' poem "Mother and Son" and Romare Bearden's collage "The Dove," readers explore the theme of hope. The lesson activates...

Twelfth graders read the short story The Lesson. They research the socio-economic and cultural context of the story and author. They examine the author's point of view. They analyze the first person narration in the story. They rewrite...

Des'ree's song "You Gotta Be" is used to model for language learners the forms that can be used to express necessity (must, have to, have got to). After examining the grammar in the song, the attention switches to a discussion of the...

How important are sound effects in films? In stage plays? In radio programs? To gain an understanding of the impact of these special effects, class members watch a short video spoof of the sound in a scene from Star...

If you have access to Harmonic Vision’s Music Ace Software, then this lesson plan could work for you. Kindergarteners use the video music software to place, identify, and read musical notes. They listen in and identify both high and...

High schoolers make connections between music and visual art. In this integrated arts lesson, students design paintings that challenge them to examine the relationship between art elements and principles.

High schoolers compare and contrast the genres of poetry and hip-hop. They view a poetry slam and write about it in their journals. Learners view a Lauryn Hill music video and respond to it in their journals. They compare and contrast...

Anthony Mann's 1953 film biography, The Glenn Miller Story, is the focus of a series of activities that introduce class members to Miller's life and music. Of particular interest to music students will be the cameos by many famous...

Students analyze instrumental music.  In this instrumental music lesson, students investigate musical works of art.  Students describe the instruments they hear and discover the relationship between music and other...

Introduce rhythmic beat and melodic beat with a upbeat activity that asks young musicians to clap the beat to their favorite nursery rhyme. To introduce the rest beat, class members use small drums or other percussion instruments to play...

Learners analyze sculpture, poetry, and music to gain an understanding of historical events. In this critical thinking skills lesson, students take a closer look at African-American history as they examine "Lift Every Voice and Sing'"...

Students brainstorm what they know about the performing arts and research an artist or song and its related genre. Students work in groups to create an online banner to attract peers to their performing arts genre.

First graders read the Poem "The Elephant" by Shel Silverstein and create a descriptive web in the shape of an animal. In this cross curricular music lesson, 1st graders recite a poem with rhythm, then listen to the song "The...

An ambitious geography lesson is geared toward kindergartners. They discover what the differences are between states and countries. They look at maps of Arkansas, and learn what the shapes and lines mean. Additionally, they create a...

Students explore the links between Japanese and British culture. In this Japanese music lesson plan, students listen to their instructor present a lecture regarding Gagaku music and then perform "Te Lucis Ante Terminum" with Japanese...

After class members have read and discussed Act III of The Winter’s Tale, groups select one line from Act III, scene i that they feel captures the essence of the entire scene. They then create a tableaux that best depicts the scene’s...

What makes a great poem sound so good? Learn the rhythmic secrets of poetry with an explanatory online lesson.

To whom it may concern ... Scholars undergo the process of writing a letter to an authority figure. The lesson asks writers to compose a formal letter requesting a music therapy space. Pupils learn how to submit a project proposal to any...

Students analyze, discuss and compare sources of inspiration, use of words and imagery, and other differences in writing styles between two featured songwriters. This is an introductory lesson to a creative project unit.

High school orchestra is a great place to play music, like The Star Spangled Banner. Upper graders create new rhythms to the old song and perform them with the class. They rehearse their updated versions of the song using their...

The world is a rainbow of colors in a set of lessons for English learners. Kids review colors with matching games and hide-and-seek, before singing songs about colors and reading a class story.

Learners follow five steps to compose an alliteration poem. They choose one consonant and brainstorm as many nouns, verbs, and adjectives they can think of to create rhyming sentences that come together in a poetic fashion.